How “Astronomers and Astrophysicists” view Astrology?
What are the views of most “Astrophysicists and Astronomers” on Astrology?
Well, most Astronomers view on Astrology is that “Astrology is a pseudoscience”, “Astrology is not a Science, while Astronomy is a Science” and many Astronomers have such similar views like this.
Most Astronomers have such views on Astrology, but there are some Astronomers who believe that there might be some truth in Astrology and some Scientific mechanism behind Astrology on how it works or can work. Yes, there are some Astronomers who are open-minded on Astrology, but majority of Astronomers don't believe that there might be something to Astrology.
Now, different people have different views and opinions on Astrology and it needn't be correct or wrong either. It is all about the mentality of the people on how they view the subject.
Now consider these 4 different Astronomers who have different views and opinions on Astrology. Those Astronomers (also Astrophysicists) are:
- Carl Sagan, American Astrophysicist and Astronomer
- Dr. Percy Seymour, British Astrophysicist and Astronomer
- Dr. Victor Mansfield, American Astrophysicist and Astronomer
- Dr. Niel DeGrasse Tyson, American Astrophysicist and Astronomer
American Astrophysicist and Astronomer Carl Sagan who is known for his famous and popular show “Cosmos” was one of the critics of Astrology.
Carl Sagan is famously remembered for his statement against Astrology in his show “Cosmos”, where he has quoted as follows
In 1975 Professor Bart J Bok a famous American astronomer came out with a strong statement against astrology. The petition declared on behalf of the scientists that ‘the time has come to challenge directly, and forcefully, the pretentious claims of astrological charlatans’. Interestingly Carl Sagan, who also held Astrology as a pseudo-science, refused to sign the statement. Explaining his stand, Carl Sagan pointed out that he was unable to sign the petition not because he thought astrology has any validity whatsoever, but because he felt that the tone of the statement was authoritarian.
The statement had condemned astrology for having its roots in superstition and the scientists could think of no mechanism by which astrology could work. Carl Sagan pointed out the same was true even for chemistry and medicine. As far as the absence of any known mechanism to explain the ‘working’ of astrology was concerned Carl Sagan pointed out the same was also true when Alfred Wegener first proposed continental drift theory:
The notion was roundly dismissed by all the great Geophysicists, who were certain that continents were fixed, not floating on anything, and therefore unable to ‘drift’. Instead, the key twentieth-century idea in geophysics turns out to be plate tectonics; we now understand that continental plates do indeed float and ‘drift’ (or better, are carried by a kind of conveyor belt driven by the great heat engine of the Earth’s interior), and all those great geophysicists were simply wrong.
Objections to pseudoscience on the grounds of unavailable mechanism can be mistaken – although if the contentions violate well-established laws of physics, such objections of course carry great weight.
We see, American Astrophysicist and Astronomer Carl Sagan who is known for his criticism of Astrology was also not sure whether it is completely pseudoscience and he might have been believing there can be something to Astrology. (this is my perspective and it may be wrong, but that is how I am viewing it—different people have their own views)
British Astrophysicist and Astronomer Dr. Percy Seymour has written 2 books on Astrology. Dr. Percy Seymour was criticised and ostracized by Science community as a result of this, he was a member of Royal Astronomical Society and fellow member of Institute of Physics. Director of William Day Planetarium and senior lecturer in Plymouth University, UK.
Above images: Dr. Percy Seymour and his books on Astrology
Dr. Percy Seymour formulated a Magnetic theory of Astrology based on the discovery of an American Radio Engineer John H Nelson who in March, 1951 discovered that there was a correlation between different Planetary positions with respect to propagation of Radio waves. He observed that there was a formation of Sunspots with different Planetary positions and this caused distortion in propagation of Radio waves.
Now, many people think that all Astronomers are against Astrology and consider it completely as bogus and pseudoscience, but that is not completely true as we can see here.
Above image: Dr. Victor Mansfield, American Astrophysicist and Astronomer
American Astrophysicist and Astronomer Dr. Victor Mansfield, professor in Colgate University also had his own views on Astrology, he believed that there must be some mechanism for Astrology and it is not complete pseudoscience. Dr. Victor Mansfield passed away in 2008 from Pancreatic Cancer.
Dr. Victor Mansfield’s views on Astrology:
As a young man in 1975, I was enthusiastic about my latest astrophysics research but also deeply hurt by many of the scientists I admired most because of their signing such an uninformed statement against astrology. I knew they understood nothing about real astrology and its extraordinary value, nevertheless it pained me to have my scientific elders denigrate something of importance for my inner life. More than two decades later, it distresses me just as much to hear some of the astrologers I admire most at this conference bash science in an equally uninformed way. Science is hardly above criticism, but neither side is served by shadow projection. I'll argue that the way to the personal and societal transformation we so desperately need is through reconciliation and understanding between astrology and science, not recriminations and intolerance. As we all know, in a religious war with all its primitive emotional erruptions and inability to communicate across the battle lines, truth is the first victim.
The typical argument against astrology from the science side begins with the idea that there are four forces in nature: the gravitational, electromagnetic, strong and weak nuclear forces. Only two of them, gravity and electromagnetic, are long-range forces that act over macroscopic distances. Movements of free charges easily shield electric forces, and magnetic forces decrease with distance even more rapidly than gravity, thus the only force of significance for accounting for astrological influences is the gravitational force. Thus, as my late colleague, Carl Sagan, showed, the gravitational forces of the doctor and nurse are much greater than anything from the planets. So he would say don't worry about Chiron's position, but rather whether you had a nurse in the fifth house or a doctor in Capricorn.
Dr. Victor Mansfield says:
“Today is a golden age for Astronomy. Thanks to the combination of a powerful theoretical understanding of nature combined with a vast array of sophisticated modern electronics and computing, the growth of Astronomy is dazzling. I suggest that, with a coherent theory and the modern tools of Psychological testing, sophisticated statistical methods and modern computing Astrology can make a similar leap into a golden age of its own,” he said.
Above image: Niel DeGrasse Tyson, American Astrophysicist and Astronomer
Now, Dr. Niel DeGrasse Tyson is presently one of the most famous Astrophysicist and Astronomer, host of National Geographic’s “StarTalk,” bestselling author, and director of the Hayden Planetarium has his own view on Astrology.
Now, there is a lot of difference between “Sidereal or Vedic Astrology” and “Tropical or Western Astrology”, there is a difference of 22° when determining the position of Celestial bodies in Zodiac ie if you are Leo in Western Astrology, you will be Cancer in Sidereal Astrology. Sidereal Astrology is Astronomical in nature, while Tropical Astrology is Philosophical in nature.
Astrophysicist Dr. Niel DeGrasse Tyson considers Astrology as “bullshit”, which sounds rude for some people. But it is his own view and most of the Astronomers hold this view, but also there are some Astronomers whose view is different from these “most Astronomers”.
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All the above Astronomers are well educated and they have their own views which depends upon their mentality on how they view the subject. But education has nothing to do with it.
As an American Physicist Richard Feynman has quoted
So, yes most Astronomers view Astrology as nothing more than a pseudoscience and complete bogus. But not every Astronomer is having same views.
Stephen Plagemann, a Scientist working in NASA had published a book called “The Jupiter Effect” where he proposed that solar activity, by affecting the spin of the Earth, could provide a trigger for earthquakes. He was later thrown out of his job because of Astrological touch in his views,he is working as a farmer in England.
Stephen Plagemann proposed his theory based on the discovery of an American Radio Engineer John H Nelson.
But ironically, today modern Science is telling the same thing what Stephen Plagemann had proposed. It is now being suggested that powerful Solar eruptions might trigger Earthquakes. It is to be noted that predicting Earthquakes is a well known in Astrology and considered as an Astrological phenomenon.
Below link: How powerful Solar eruptions might trigger Earthquakes
https://astronomy.com/news/2020/07/powerful-eruptions-on-the-sun-might-trigger-earthquakes
The following picture represents the truth, but not all Scientists are like that—there are many good Scientists who have been dedicated to Science.
Author Jo Marchant, who is a Microbiologist and holds a PhD has written a book called “The Human Cosmos”, in that book she has mentioned on how both Astrology and Astronomy are one and the same, though they appear to be complete opposites.
Above image: Author and Microbiologist Jo Marchant
Professor Balfour Stewart, who is the author of The Unseen Universe and has studied meteorology and the Earth’s magnetism, stated that there were many reasons for believing in the relationship between planetary alignments and sunspots. He declared, “If all these speculations are proved to be right, it means that we were totally mistaken about Medieval Astrology.”
More recently, Physicist Dr. Frank Stefani from Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Germany and Dr. José Abreu from ETH Zurich Institute for Geophysics in Switzerland have come to the conclusion that the revolving planets causes Solar activity.
For those who wants to know about the Scientific evidence of Astrology, refer the below article:
“How much Scientific is Astrology?” by Abhinav Kashyap
https://medium.com/the-science-of-astrology/how-much-scientific-is-astrology-b9ec9d7afdf1
**References: refer the below external links
https://phys.org/news/2019-05-corroborates-planetary-tidal-solar.amp
https://phys.org/news/2016-10-link-solar-tidal-effects-venus.amp
https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/science/planets-may-affect-our-lives-after-all-1.656691
Above links: Recent studies concluding that the revolving planets causes Solar activity
https://www.lightlink.com/vic/astrol.html
https://astrologynewsservice.com/articles/an-astrophysicists-sympathetic-view-of-astrology/
Above links: Astrophysicist Dr. Victor Mansfield’s view on Astrology
https://swarajyamag.com/books/human-cosmos-a-complementary-work-to-carl-sagans-cosmos
